Area type
County
Population Density
445
Population growth
0.4%
Gender ratio
0.94 male to female
english main language
94%
birth rate
9.5
death rate
11.6
Major religion
48% Christian
Urbanisation
76%
View trend
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View breakdown
The population of West Sussex is 885,055 according to mid-2021 population figures published by the ONS. West Sussex's population growth rate between mid-2020 and mid-2021 was 0.4% per year. West Sussex covers an area of 1,991 square kilometres (769 square miles) and has a population density of 445 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2021.
According to the latest 2021 census, the population in West Sussex is predominantly white (91%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 9% of the population.
The median average age in West Sussex in 2021 was 44.8, with over 18s representing 83.5% of the population. The sex ratio was 94.4 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2021, the urban population of West Sussex was approximately 615,318 or 76%, while the rural population was around 191,574 or 24%.
The largest religious group in West Sussex is Christians who account for 48% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 94.2% of people in West Sussex, and spoken either well or very well by 5% of the population. 0.8% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.1% spoke no English at all.
Main page: West Sussex Population
The population of West Sussex is 885,055 according to mid-2021 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2020 and mid-2021, the population in West Sussex grew by an estimated 17,420 people, and in the ten years before mid-2021, the population grew by .
West Sussex's population growth rate between mid-2020 and mid-2021 was 0.4%, which is 0.5% lower than the average population growth rate in West Sussex for the ten years before mid-2021 (0.9%).
West Sussex covers an area of 1,991 square kilometres (769 square miles) and has a population density of 445 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2021. That figure has by people per km2 over the past decade.
According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS in 2019, males account for 48.6% of West Sussex's 885,055 population, while females made up 51.4% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 94.427 males to every 100 females in 2021. In England as a whole, the gender ratio was 96 males to every 100 females in 2021.
Age statistics collected by the ONS show the adult population of West Sussex, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 739,232.
West Sussex's age structure shows the working-age population to be 536,524 which is 60.6% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 16.5% of the population, and over 65s represent 22.9% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from to .
West Sussex's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in West Sussex was 44.8 years in 2019.
Of the West Sussex population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.1 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in West Sussex is 82 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in West Sussex has a life expectancy of 84 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 81 years. Compare life expectancy by area.
As a comparison, in England as a whole, current life expectancy at birth is 81 years, for females that rises to 83 years and for males it falls to 79 years.
The life expectancy for someone born in West Sussex has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 80 years to a life expectancy of 82 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 80.8 | 84.1 | 82.4 |
| 01-04 | 80.0 | 83.4 | 81.7 |
| 05-09 | 76.1 | 79.5 | 77.8 |
| 10-14 | 71.1 | 74.5 | 72.8 |
| 15-19 | 66.1 | 69.5 | 67.8 |
| 20-24 | 61.2 | 64.6 | 62.9 |
| 25-29 | 56.3 | 59.7 | 58.0 |
| 30-34 | 51.5 | 54.8 | 53.2 |
| 35-39 | 46.7 | 49.9 | 48.3 |
| 40-44 | 41.9 | 45.0 | 43.5 |
According to the latest 2021 census, the population in West Sussex is predominantly white (91.0%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 9.0% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in West Sussex accounting for 4.3% of the population.
11,429 or 1% of the West Sussex population are black according to the latest 2021 census.
In England more broadly the portion of the population that is white is 81%. 10% are Asian and 4% are Black.
Estimates of personal wellbeing in the UK are published by the ONS annually, with scores for anxiety, happiness, life satisfaction, and feeling that life is worthwhile. Overall scores are based on surveying a representative sample of the population and are scored out of 10 (.e.g for happiness 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is 'completely happy').
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According to the latest 2021 census, the most populous religious group within West Sussex is Christians, accounting for 48.1% of the population.
West Sussex has a Muslim population of 19,225 which is 2.2% of the population.
Compared to England as a whole, in England circa 46% of the population is Christian, 7% is Muslim, 2% is Hindu, and Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews each is around 1%. The remainder is split between people with no religion and those who decided not to identify a religion.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2023. Data sources: ONS Local statistics